Our traditional 4th

I love our country and I enjoy the opportunity to celebrate the birth of this great nation.

We celebrate in a fairly typical (and laidback) fashion.  The evening of the 3rd is our city's parade.  We walk a couple of blocks from our home and sit in camp chairs on the corner.  The parade is great - usually about 100 entries.  We get a lot of floats - royalty from all the surrounding cities (at least 10).  I usually know some of the youth that are either with the marching band, the football team, the cheerleaders, or something.  The parade entrants throw lots of candy so my children feast on salt water taffy (and even share the peppermint ones with me!).  Quite often we have extended family members enjoy the parade with us.  This year Dawnette's family and my parents watched.  I remembered to take popsicles so we had something cold to keep us cool while we waited.  One of my favorite entrants is the 4-wheeling jeeps that drive up on each other's tires.  It's pretty cool.

The morning of the 4th we go swimming in the city pool.  It's free and they provide fun games.  This year we arose early and ran the 5K and then ate the chuckwagon breakfast that the city council serves.  I think that will all become part of the tradition.  The rest of the day is spent relaxing.  Kevin and I usually head over to the city park where there is entertainment all day.  We enjoy listening to the bands - this year my fave was "The Flashback Brothers".  Yep - they performed some oldies but goodies (Steely Dan, Journey, etc)

That night we gather in the park by the city offices and watch the fireworks.  I take snacks which makes my children very happy.  Riverton has a really good fireworks display - about 30 minutes of oohs and aahs.

God bless America!